Former NFL quarterback and current radio and television personality Boomer Esiason was among the legions weighing in on Colin Kaepernick’s decision not to stand for the national anthem.
Esiason called it “as disrespectful as any athlete has ever been,” which wasn’t a point of view that his “Inside the NFL” colleague Brandon Marshall agrees with. The Jets wide receiver stands during the anthem, but said on an appearance on Esiason’s WFAN radio show that Esiason is “100 percent wrong” when it comes to his feeling that the 49ers quarterback should keep his opinions to himself.
Marshall said that he believes “the American flag is bigger than just one thing” and that he’s “glad” the attention being paid to Kaepernick’s actions has led to a conversation in locker rooms and around the country.
“This guy, he is one of the biggest patriots out there. Because he’s standing up for human rights ... I think President Obama said it best -- that’s his constitutional right,” Marshall said, via Newsday. “That was Colin’s right and that’s all the other guys’ right. But I do think this is very thought-provoking for all. I think that the message was a little diluted because of how much respect a lot of us have for those that served ... [they] gave us our freedoms, fought for our freedoms. But the message was clear.”
Based on the way Kaepernick jerseys are selling, the message is also reaching an audience more receptive to Marshall’s point of view than the one Esiason espoused in August.